And along the 1000 Bhopals JATHA  
THE PEOPLE TESTIFIED . . .

Savitri Hota like thousands others living near the Oswal Chemicals and Fertilizers   plant in Paradip is affected by pollution. 'We live a life of fear and   uncertainty. Due to the pollution created by the plant we do not have clean air to breathe. Our children are particularly affected, and they have problem breathing, which is scary.   The trees over here are covered with a white layer, and vegetables and fruits also do not grow well.

Savitri Hota  

Sambari Ho is a voice that reflects the stark reality confronting a large number of Orissa's tribals. She lives in a village in Sukinda, very close to areas which are being preyed upon by mining companies. 'We leave in a village that has been leased to a ming company. So we are like guests in our own ancient homeland. The water used for washing chromite is released into the river Damasala. We cannot use its water for drinking anymore. Whoever drinks its water is likely to fall sick. If we complain to any mining company we are harassed. Nobody in the Government is willing to help us. Meanwhile people continue to suffer from Malaria, skin diseases, and asthama.'

Sambari Ho  

Niladri Bihari Mishra doesn’t believe in keeping quiet. Within the shot span of time he spent with the green peace Jatha he helped expose the alarming rate of damage to environmental and human health in Joda area. He presented a paper armed equipped with telling facts and figures at the Joda Women’s College.“ Education is the key otherwise how will the people acquire information about what is happening. Only when they become aware of what is happening can they act. Over here, there is a lack of environmental awareness. People do not really feel the importance of education here. That has to be changed first.”

Niladri Bihari Mishra  

Mantu Mandal, a fisherman of Kharnasi   near Paradip is a troubled man. 'Since 1964, we have lived near the   river Kharnasi, which is joined to the Mahanadi. The fish catch from the river was the source of our sustenance. But with the setting up of the Oswal Chemicals and Factory our catch started to fall. Before the factory was set up our daily catch of Ilich (a type of fish) averaged more than a hundred kilos. Now we have to be content if we catch some twenty kilos. The quality of the fish has also gone down. The fish stock is affected by the effluents that the   Oswal factory releases into the mouth of the Mahanadi. The river over there is choked by pollutants, and the water from that area affects our stretch too.'

Mantu Mandal 

Living close to Nalco's mines and refinery in Damonjodi is perilous for Damodar Jani and his community. A resident of a village in Damanjodi, Jani is clear about how Nalco has threatened the existence of villages in and around Damonjodi. 'Most of the land around the mines and the refinery has lost its fertility. There is continuous noise pollution throughout the corridor where the conveyor belt runs. The release of caustic water to nearby water bodies has also polluted the environment. Cattle, which consume water from nearby ponds and streams generally fall sick and die. Among us, the rate of malaria and diarheoa is also very high. The company knows about the situation, but it has done nothing to change it. We feel so helpless because till now we are not even aware what rights we have about safeguarding our own basic interests.'

Damodar Jani 

A resident of Bousadolo in Jajpur district, Bijoy Kumar Prusti's community is threatened by the stone crushing units that have come up near his village. ' Five crushers have been newly set up near our place, and they continue to create havoc. Blasting is taking place close to our homes, and there is not a single house that has not developed cracks. We are poor people and some of   us have spent our entire savings to build houses, and now our houses are being destroyed. The wells on which we depend for water have also been polluted by dust. The open ponds are even more polluted. They have destroyed our land, polluted our air and water, and we   cannot even complain. Goons from the crushing units threaten us if we complain. The police remain silent spectators.

Bijoy Kumar Prusti

Kavitha was one among several hundred people who gathered at the Tehsildar's office in Bhadravathi to submit a memorandum seeking a cleaner, healthier environment. Surprisingly, neither she, nor her family was a victim of environmental pollution. Then what was the reason behind her presence? 'How long beforeI know when my family begins to suffer? It is to show my support to a cause which I believe is right. The Bhadra river is badly polluted, and we have to come together for our voices to be heard. If we remain isolated we are weak. I believe that unity is essential when we are fighting for the protection of our environment.

Kavitha

Raj Reddy and Indraya of Akampet, Warangal have seen people dying while pursuing as harmless an activity as farming. In an around their hamlet, exposure to pesticides have affected a large number of cotton farmers. 'Many lives have been lost after farmers were exposed to pesticides produced by pharma   majors. 'Duplicate' pesticides available in the market has made it worse. Till now there has been no major intervention from the Government. We want that dangerous pesticides be identified to be banned. We should also be made aware about the alternatives to pesticides use,' they said.

Raj Reddy

The village of Gandi Gudda where Puli Raju, 21, lives is among the worst polluted regions of Andhra Pradesh. 'I used to be a farmer till about five years back. But effluents from the nearby industrial area contaminated my land, degraded the water used for irrigation, and this area has lost its fertility. The Gandicheru (a tank) used to provide drinking water to four nearby villages -- Gandi Guda, Dayara, Sultanpur, and Kistareddypet. Now the tank's water is so polluted that if anyone consumes its water he or she is sure to fall sick immediately. Many of us suffer from chronic diseases, many have weak vision, and stomach problems are also very common.'

AP, Puli Raju 

'All   the mining companies are the same. You think TISCO is any different? Let me tell you, they are not. They organise health camps in nearby villages, and they claim their work is done. But the local people don't get any real benefits' asserts Lachman Hemran of Kusumdia village, Jajpur. 'Many villages near their mines have villagers who are sick because of the dust produced by mining. Cattle are dying because they drink water from ponds contaminated by pollution. But will they stop the polluting dust? They wont, because they cannot. For them profit comes first.'

Lachman Hemran 

Baduni Munda had worked in various mines for 25 years. Now she suffers from skin diseases. 'I was first afflicted while working in the mines. Gradually   my sores became more severe. I received no help from the companies because I was working for a contractor. The contractor also did not help me. I could not ask for any aid because if I did, I would have been replaced by another laborer. Now I am old, and the disease has not left me.'

Baduni Munda

"That night I was sleeping, we had no notion that any thing like this would happen. It was around the middle of the night. I woke up to the pungent smell of irritation of something like burning chills. Everyone was coughing in the house, everyone had got up. We started asking each other, 'Who has burned chili's in the house?"

Rasheeda Bee

'The operation of the nearby power plant, started it all. They dispose some kind of chemicals close to the sea, and naturally the fish can’t survive in that filth. They have also dumped some junk that continues to corrode on the beach. The power plant must have benefited some people, but I am certainly not among those."

Naveen Putharn

Apart from living with the stench of the dump, in the last 4 or 5 years even our well water has turned reddish and can no longer be used for cooking or drinking – even using it for washing leaves the skin irritable. We have to walk at least a mile to get potable water – which is from a pipeline; the wells around are all poisoned.’ Moreover, the waste dump is situated on an elevated ground and therefore during the monsoon (and it also rains often in Mangalore) the run off from it gushes towards their homes. Fernandez cannot comprehend why Vamanjoor had to end up as a dustbin for Mangalore. ‘Don’t we also have the right to clean air and water?’

Louis Fernandez  

"within the last 30 years everything has changed - for the worse. It's all due to the Government's inability to check pollutants being dumped into the river."

V. J. Jose - Periyar River Keeper

"The situation has badly deteriorated during the last five years. Diseases are rampant, especially skin diseases... Children are the most affected, including girls who reach puberty very early...I cannot even earn a decent amount because fish stock have gone down, and the quality also has gone down."

Mr. A Murthy

"Rains revive life on our planet, we cannot do without them. Still we   are doing very little to conserve water. Even the water which is available is wasted in so many ways. Industries pollute our rivers and lakes...but we just sit and watch. We should do something about it.   Stop industries from polluting nearby lakes and streams. I do what I can   -- plant trees...you should too.   Let us do what we can,   otherwise will there be anything left for us? Please, think about it..."

Madan class IX student

"Factories like Gogo Exports have contaminated our soil, our water, even the air we breathe. They accumulate wealth, while we poor farmers suffer. Can we ever hope to aspire for a better, healthier life... till when will we have to endure this?"

Mr R Prakash

“You can’t believe how arrogant companies can be, and how negligent they can be about their neighbours!” that’s how Mr. Seetaram, a once local farmer and currently living in Dodaballapur, described his experience with Go Go Exports , a company dealing with dyes .

They have imperiled our very existence…even drinking water which once was abundant is contaminated over a kilometre around the factory, and the management doesn ’ t even acknowledge that there is a problem. Believe it or not, they tried to tell us that the effluents they were disposing off in bore wells were part of a rainwater harvesting project”    

Mr Seetaram